Seoul is set to become one of the most influential style and culture hubs on the planet. It’s a brave statement, perhaps. But that’s what defines the Korean creators who are shaping Seoul: bold, brave and proud. Visit Seoul and you will instantly encounter keys to the success of contemporary Korean culture. Dynamic energy, speed and a remix of so many things (old and new, Western and Eastern, high fashion and streetwear, industrial and craftsmanship) welcome you – although it might make you feel slightly giddy.
‘If love and hate have the same meaning, I love you, Seoul, I hate you, Seoul’, sings RM, of South Korean boy band BTS, in his song Seoul, produced by Honne. Growing up and living in Seoul, that’s how I felt about the city of over 10 million inhabitants, so intense and full of contradictions. From being one of the poorest countries in the 1960s, South Korea achieved remarkable economic growth, and such rapid social change enforced speed and fierce competition for Koreans to outperform. A small country squeezed between China and Japan, it had an insatiable desire for external recognition, which fuelled its cultural exports, from music and drama to fashion.
If you ask Korean artists how they did
